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Title Living or Nonliving Lesson Objective Students look for living and nonliving elements in a park or backyard Background Information for Teacher An organism s habitat is the specific place that an organism lives All habitats contain living and nonliving elements Animals and plants are common living elements Rocks and soil are common nonliving elements Soil is comprised of many living bacteria and organisms For the purpose of this activity it will be considered nonliving Other nonliving parts of a habitat include temperature humidity amount of sunlight and shade shelter from or exposure to wind and air quality All of these features influence how an organism lives Living elements change to non living elements through natural and unnatural processes An example of this would be a tree It is living if it continues to grow however if it dies or is harvested and turned into paper it is nonliving A sheep is living and wool yarn is nonliving Student Prior Knowledge This activity can begin study of living and nonliving things in an environment Materials Yarn for circle 1 1 2 ft Hand lens Thermometer Student drawn data chart
Step by Step Guided Lesson Step 1 Start Video Tips Interact with the video by pausing to ask questions or discuss information viewed with student
Step 2 Teach Lesson List the characteristics of living i e growth movement reproduction and non living things in an environment On the whiteboard make two vertical columns Label the columns living and non living Tell the student that all things in their habitat fit into one of these two categories Use these headings and have the student list things in the room classifying them as either living or non living Discuss the characteristics that identify them this way The whiteboard can t reproduce so it is not living The plants on the window grow so they must be living Have the student draw a T chart like the one on the board and label the columns living and non living Give a yarn circle to the student Explain that they will use the yarn circle outside They will place the yarn circle in an area flower bed sandbox tree grass and will record the living and non living things they find inside the yarn circle They should find four living and four non living things within the circle If necessary they may move their circle to other locations If they have to move their circles to other locations they must record their move on their data sheets Generate a list of potential organisms that the students may find Remind the student that both plants and animals are living organisms and may be used in this field research Model examples of some things that might be collected on the board or overhead Remind the student that an important rule of the data collection process includes the careful observation of the organism and its habitat There should be no digging in the soil or uprooting of plants Hand lenses and thermometers are valuable tools for this activity Prior to going outside have the student predict if they will find more living or nonliving elements outside Record this information on the board Take the student outside and give them 10 15 minutes to observe their organisms and collect their data
Encourage the students to ask questions about their observations Are there more organisms in the shade or sun Do plants grow bigger in shady areas Return inside and compare and compile the data the student collected Compare the results obtained with the student s predictions Discuss why and where they found more living elements Were there areas that the number of living and nonliving elements were similar Why What were some of the interesting or unusual elements the students found in the areas Were they natural or man made Have the student complete the worksheet below
Step 3 Complete the worksheet attached below Step 4 Start the next lesson with the game or activity attached below for review so the student can demonstrate understanding of this lesson before moving forward Worksheet offline activity Have the student complete and submit the worksheet in Step 4 and earn 3 FunBucks
